A trip report of our "Magic"al Halloween Cruise on the HIGH seas October 27th-November 3rd, 2007.
Cast included: Myself, DH, DD 7, Mother in Law, Father in Law, Sister in Law, Her Fiance, His DS 4, His Dad and Stepmother.
Half of our party flew into Orlando on the 26th from Little Rock, just in case. We rented a car from Budget. We had reserved a Ford Expedition, which they did not have. So, they cut our rental rate in half and got us a mini van which fit 5 people plus luggage just fine. We were off to Port Canaveral. The drive was quick and easy. I would not hesitate to rent a car again. Last year we used Disney transfers, so I wasn't sure, but it was just fine.
When we arrived at Port Canaveral, we were all hungry. I had read good things about Zackary's greek restaurant, so we stopped in for lunch. I really can't say enough about how yummy our lunch was. Our service was great and the food was amazing. Our server told us everything is made from scratch and I believe it. It was absolutely fantastic. After lunch we got directions to Wal Mart and went and bought some last minute cruise essentials. From there we went to check into the La Quinta where we were staying. We had free nights to use or we probably would have stayed elsewhere. Our room was clean and basic, but that is the best thing I can say about it. Everyone was tired from getting up at 4am, so we had an early night and were all anticipating boarding the Magic the next morning!
Stopped at Starbucks for coffee/pastries for breakfast. Made a quick stop at Walgreens for a couple things and got ready to head to the terminal at about 10am. DH dropped us off at the terminal and took the car back to Budget. MIL and I went and checked in. We got boarding #5. DH appeared about 20 min later and we were all set just waiting until they started calling the boarding groups. We were on the ship around 12:15 I'd guess and the vacation fun started. We went up and ate at Topsiders so that DD could swim. The weather was warm and the pools weren't too crowded yet, so she jumped right in. My DD is an only child, so we had been emailing for about 10 months with another family on our sailing. When they opened the Mickey slide, it turned out the girls were standing in line right next to one another. They played together all week. A big shout out to Taylor, Pam and Bert! It made all the difference for my daughter to have a friend, when she stepped on the ship.
The other half of our travel party flew in from Dallas the 27th. They met us on the ship about 2pm. We all sat up on deck 9 anticipating the vacation before us and enjoying the day. We watched the Carnival ship set sail and waited until it was our turn. We went down to our rooms and met our stateroom hostess, Beverly, who was an absolute DREAM. We were in rooms 2560, 2565, 2072 and 6105. We sailed in 2560 last year as well (mid ship port side right below the gangway-very convenient). Hearing the horn blow at sailaway is one of my very favorite things.
We had 5:45 dinner rotation starting in Parrot Cay. Yeah, we would be in Lumiere's for formal night! We went to dinner and met our servers Louis and Aswald. Louis was one of those servers that I've seen people write about in their trip reports. He was so amazing. Last year, we were really disappointed with our servers. Louis totally made up for it. He was funny, played tricks on everyone, got my daughter up to dance, introduced her to the "princes" at the tables surrounding us and accommodated every request we had. We had linked our reservations so all of our party of 10 sat together and that was a really fun part of the trip. After dinner we went to the show and then got ready for bed.
After we sailed away, thru dinner and the show, the ship started rocking a bit. MIL looked pretty green. I pulled out the ear patches and told her to put one on. She was glad we had brought them. Surely, the ship wasn't going to rock all week long....was it????
Two sea days-we attended the cooking shows. I didn't think they were quite as good as last years, but still fun to watch. We played bingo, ate A LOT, walked 3 miles a day on deck 4, ran on the treadmills in the workout area, shopped in the Treasure Ketch, went to brunch at Palo and did our DIS trick or treat. I have to say, I'm going to side with the folks that say Palo brunch is better than dinner. We were able to do both this cruise and I really enjoyed brunch more. We had the same server both times, but I think the brunch is more special. Maybe I say that because we had brunch on Monday and had eaten so much by the time we had Palo dinner on Thursday, we were just too full.
Our DIS trick or treat this year was a scavenger hunt. The groups had clues and went to 5 different locations, returned to diversions and got HUGE treatbags filled with the loot all the diser's had brought on board. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Pam for organizing everything.
Weather update-during our sea days the sky was a little grey off and on and the seas seemed to be getting bigger and bigger and the wind stronger and stronger. We ended up with almost 20 foot waves and literally gale force winds. The ship was rocking pretty good. I'm not bothered by the motion (I think it is very relaxing at night), but there were quite a few people who were. It was impossible to walk straight down the hall at times and the shower was an exercise in balance. Monday night at the show, Brett the cruise director even said, "who's going to be glad to see land tomorrow morning?" The answer was EVERYONE, crew included. When I asked, they said they'd not seen weather that rough since their transatlantic crossing. Tropical Storm Noel was taking its toll.
St Maarten-Woke up, ate breakfast and got off the ship. Took a taxi to the french side and walked all around. Taxi driver was very personable and did his own version of an island tour for us. Because everything on the french side is priced in euros it is all quite expensive, so we looked but didn't buy. We caught a taxi back to the port and did some shopping on the dutch side. It was hot, hot, hot and sunny. We decided to get back on the ship and eat a late lunch. We swam and played at the pools for the afternoon. Had dinner and went to the pirate party. The pirate party is one of the things to me that makes a disney cruise so very special. It is so much fun and is absolutely amazing to watch the fireworks. To me, that is truly a "magic"al experience.
St Thomas-Up early for customs and had breakfast in Lumieres waiting for the ship to clear all passengers. Most of our party went on an island tour and shopping. DD and I opted for a beach day. I was somewhat concerned watching CNN that tropical storm Noel was going to interfere with our Castaway Cay day, so I thought we'd better get in some beach time when we could. We took a taxi to Coki Beach, right by Coral World. It is a relatively small beach and we had a great day that was just perfect. We rented lounge chairs, masks/snorkels and a lifejacket for DD. We built sand castles, swam, watched the chicken with the baby chicks on the beach, looked for shells etc. Best of all was the snorkeling. With the masks/snorkels that we rented we got big milk bone dog biscuits. We swam out and fed them to the fish. There were literally hundreds of fish that would school to eat the dog bones. It was so much fun to watch. We snorkeled on both sides of the beach and saw thousands of fish over the course of the day, probably 30 different varieties. The weather was slightly overcast, but very warm and wonderful for the day. It was not overcrowded and the waves were not too strong. I highly recommend a trip to Coki Beach. The rest of our party really enjoyed their island tour. They did not pre arrange it and it was fine. They bought perfume and some liquor (only what they couldn't get on the ship). The ship prices really are competitive and you don't have to lug bottles around which is nice.
Thursday-Sea Day-We utilized all of the ship activities again. The waves were picking up throughout the day and there was a lot of discussion among crew and passengers if we would make it to Castaway Cay the next day. I personally didn't think from looking at the weather radar that our chances were looking very good, but the captain said that they'd make the decision early Friday morning. The boat was rocking pretty good again with strong winds and BIG waves. We had our Palo dinner, which was fantastic. The lobster in Palo was much better than in the dining rooms. We missed Disney Dreams (my favorite show) because of our Palo reservation. Apparently they announced at the shows that we'd either be going to Castaway Cay or into Nassau for a port day tomorrow. Rough, rough seas during the night.
Friday-Awakened to find that the seas were calming some, but maybe not enough. Announcement was made that we'd be going into port at Nassau for the day. Disappointed that we wouldn't make Castaway Cay and have a beach day (glad I thought about that earlier in the week and went to Coki Beach with DD), but excited to see Nassau. Really the water in Nassau is much bluer and more beautiful than in St Maarten/St Thomas. It is quite apparent how much money is in Nassau when you see some of the celebrity homes/resorts. It is really lovely. The highlight of the day was that we were going to be in port docked right next to the Disney Wonder!!!! The staff said that hadn't happened in three years. The staff was as excited as the passengers, they got off the ship to take pictures too. It was really fun to watch everyone taking pictures and waving back and forth.
We decided go and walk around the Atlantis resort for the day and then go to the beach. We took the water taxi from the ship. We walked all around the Atlantis. We saw the aquarium, the casino with the huge Chihuly glass sculptures, and all of the shops. The Atlantis is a fantastic resort. Then we took a taxi to the public beach. This was probably our least favorite part of the trip. The beach vendors were VERY, VERY aggressive. Because of the storms, the surf was so rough that it would knock you down if you were in water deeper than your knees. I would not let my DD anywhere near the water. Too dangerous. But, it was beautiful to watch the waves crashing in. There were lots of people playing in the surf, but I felt like it was very unsafe. All aboard was at 3pm so we headed back to the ship around 1:30 for a late lunch.
By the end of the week our whole party of 10 was pretty much stuffed and exhausted. We had an action packed vacation, never really stopping to relax. Everyone was pretty quiet at dinner and DD was too tired to go to the show. We did all of our tipping at dinner and thanked our servers for such a wonderful week. They really went above and beyond. We also thanked our stateroom hostess for a great week and tipped her very well. We got all packed, set our luggage out and went to bed.
All that was left was to get up and get on the airplane and go home.
Kids club-we moved DD up to the 8-10 age group because she HATED the club last year and informed me that if she had to be in the club this year she wouldn't go. She had a COMPLETELY different experience in the Oceaneers Lab and absolutely loved it. She made several friends and really enjoyed it every time she went. She actually asked to go a couple of times, which was a good sign.
Overall-We had a great trip. It was fun to hang out with family. The food was good. I wouldn't say excellent, but it was very good. A few things that stand out were the white chocolate domes that everyone raves about, the pirates of the carribean dinner menu everyone really enjoyed, french fries from pluto's dog house are FABULOUS and all of the fresh fruit. The weather could have cooperated a bit better with us, but that is the chance you take when you cruise during hurricane season.
We did not rebook while onboard, but will be anxiously awaiting the new itineraries when the new ships are released.
Cast included: Myself, DH, DD 7, Mother in Law, Father in Law, Sister in Law, Her Fiance, His DS 4, His Dad and Stepmother.
Half of our party flew into Orlando on the 26th from Little Rock, just in case. We rented a car from Budget. We had reserved a Ford Expedition, which they did not have. So, they cut our rental rate in half and got us a mini van which fit 5 people plus luggage just fine. We were off to Port Canaveral. The drive was quick and easy. I would not hesitate to rent a car again. Last year we used Disney transfers, so I wasn't sure, but it was just fine.
When we arrived at Port Canaveral, we were all hungry. I had read good things about Zackary's greek restaurant, so we stopped in for lunch. I really can't say enough about how yummy our lunch was. Our service was great and the food was amazing. Our server told us everything is made from scratch and I believe it. It was absolutely fantastic. After lunch we got directions to Wal Mart and went and bought some last minute cruise essentials. From there we went to check into the La Quinta where we were staying. We had free nights to use or we probably would have stayed elsewhere. Our room was clean and basic, but that is the best thing I can say about it. Everyone was tired from getting up at 4am, so we had an early night and were all anticipating boarding the Magic the next morning!
Stopped at Starbucks for coffee/pastries for breakfast. Made a quick stop at Walgreens for a couple things and got ready to head to the terminal at about 10am. DH dropped us off at the terminal and took the car back to Budget. MIL and I went and checked in. We got boarding #5. DH appeared about 20 min later and we were all set just waiting until they started calling the boarding groups. We were on the ship around 12:15 I'd guess and the vacation fun started. We went up and ate at Topsiders so that DD could swim. The weather was warm and the pools weren't too crowded yet, so she jumped right in. My DD is an only child, so we had been emailing for about 10 months with another family on our sailing. When they opened the Mickey slide, it turned out the girls were standing in line right next to one another. They played together all week. A big shout out to Taylor, Pam and Bert! It made all the difference for my daughter to have a friend, when she stepped on the ship.
The other half of our travel party flew in from Dallas the 27th. They met us on the ship about 2pm. We all sat up on deck 9 anticipating the vacation before us and enjoying the day. We watched the Carnival ship set sail and waited until it was our turn. We went down to our rooms and met our stateroom hostess, Beverly, who was an absolute DREAM. We were in rooms 2560, 2565, 2072 and 6105. We sailed in 2560 last year as well (mid ship port side right below the gangway-very convenient). Hearing the horn blow at sailaway is one of my very favorite things.
We had 5:45 dinner rotation starting in Parrot Cay. Yeah, we would be in Lumiere's for formal night! We went to dinner and met our servers Louis and Aswald. Louis was one of those servers that I've seen people write about in their trip reports. He was so amazing. Last year, we were really disappointed with our servers. Louis totally made up for it. He was funny, played tricks on everyone, got my daughter up to dance, introduced her to the "princes" at the tables surrounding us and accommodated every request we had. We had linked our reservations so all of our party of 10 sat together and that was a really fun part of the trip. After dinner we went to the show and then got ready for bed.
After we sailed away, thru dinner and the show, the ship started rocking a bit. MIL looked pretty green. I pulled out the ear patches and told her to put one on. She was glad we had brought them. Surely, the ship wasn't going to rock all week long....was it????
Two sea days-we attended the cooking shows. I didn't think they were quite as good as last years, but still fun to watch. We played bingo, ate A LOT, walked 3 miles a day on deck 4, ran on the treadmills in the workout area, shopped in the Treasure Ketch, went to brunch at Palo and did our DIS trick or treat. I have to say, I'm going to side with the folks that say Palo brunch is better than dinner. We were able to do both this cruise and I really enjoyed brunch more. We had the same server both times, but I think the brunch is more special. Maybe I say that because we had brunch on Monday and had eaten so much by the time we had Palo dinner on Thursday, we were just too full.
Our DIS trick or treat this year was a scavenger hunt. The groups had clues and went to 5 different locations, returned to diversions and got HUGE treatbags filled with the loot all the diser's had brought on board. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Pam for organizing everything.
Weather update-during our sea days the sky was a little grey off and on and the seas seemed to be getting bigger and bigger and the wind stronger and stronger. We ended up with almost 20 foot waves and literally gale force winds. The ship was rocking pretty good. I'm not bothered by the motion (I think it is very relaxing at night), but there were quite a few people who were. It was impossible to walk straight down the hall at times and the shower was an exercise in balance. Monday night at the show, Brett the cruise director even said, "who's going to be glad to see land tomorrow morning?" The answer was EVERYONE, crew included. When I asked, they said they'd not seen weather that rough since their transatlantic crossing. Tropical Storm Noel was taking its toll.
St Maarten-Woke up, ate breakfast and got off the ship. Took a taxi to the french side and walked all around. Taxi driver was very personable and did his own version of an island tour for us. Because everything on the french side is priced in euros it is all quite expensive, so we looked but didn't buy. We caught a taxi back to the port and did some shopping on the dutch side. It was hot, hot, hot and sunny. We decided to get back on the ship and eat a late lunch. We swam and played at the pools for the afternoon. Had dinner and went to the pirate party. The pirate party is one of the things to me that makes a disney cruise so very special. It is so much fun and is absolutely amazing to watch the fireworks. To me, that is truly a "magic"al experience.
St Thomas-Up early for customs and had breakfast in Lumieres waiting for the ship to clear all passengers. Most of our party went on an island tour and shopping. DD and I opted for a beach day. I was somewhat concerned watching CNN that tropical storm Noel was going to interfere with our Castaway Cay day, so I thought we'd better get in some beach time when we could. We took a taxi to Coki Beach, right by Coral World. It is a relatively small beach and we had a great day that was just perfect. We rented lounge chairs, masks/snorkels and a lifejacket for DD. We built sand castles, swam, watched the chicken with the baby chicks on the beach, looked for shells etc. Best of all was the snorkeling. With the masks/snorkels that we rented we got big milk bone dog biscuits. We swam out and fed them to the fish. There were literally hundreds of fish that would school to eat the dog bones. It was so much fun to watch. We snorkeled on both sides of the beach and saw thousands of fish over the course of the day, probably 30 different varieties. The weather was slightly overcast, but very warm and wonderful for the day. It was not overcrowded and the waves were not too strong. I highly recommend a trip to Coki Beach. The rest of our party really enjoyed their island tour. They did not pre arrange it and it was fine. They bought perfume and some liquor (only what they couldn't get on the ship). The ship prices really are competitive and you don't have to lug bottles around which is nice.
Thursday-Sea Day-We utilized all of the ship activities again. The waves were picking up throughout the day and there was a lot of discussion among crew and passengers if we would make it to Castaway Cay the next day. I personally didn't think from looking at the weather radar that our chances were looking very good, but the captain said that they'd make the decision early Friday morning. The boat was rocking pretty good again with strong winds and BIG waves. We had our Palo dinner, which was fantastic. The lobster in Palo was much better than in the dining rooms. We missed Disney Dreams (my favorite show) because of our Palo reservation. Apparently they announced at the shows that we'd either be going to Castaway Cay or into Nassau for a port day tomorrow. Rough, rough seas during the night.
Friday-Awakened to find that the seas were calming some, but maybe not enough. Announcement was made that we'd be going into port at Nassau for the day. Disappointed that we wouldn't make Castaway Cay and have a beach day (glad I thought about that earlier in the week and went to Coki Beach with DD), but excited to see Nassau. Really the water in Nassau is much bluer and more beautiful than in St Maarten/St Thomas. It is quite apparent how much money is in Nassau when you see some of the celebrity homes/resorts. It is really lovely. The highlight of the day was that we were going to be in port docked right next to the Disney Wonder!!!! The staff said that hadn't happened in three years. The staff was as excited as the passengers, they got off the ship to take pictures too. It was really fun to watch everyone taking pictures and waving back and forth.
We decided go and walk around the Atlantis resort for the day and then go to the beach. We took the water taxi from the ship. We walked all around the Atlantis. We saw the aquarium, the casino with the huge Chihuly glass sculptures, and all of the shops. The Atlantis is a fantastic resort. Then we took a taxi to the public beach. This was probably our least favorite part of the trip. The beach vendors were VERY, VERY aggressive. Because of the storms, the surf was so rough that it would knock you down if you were in water deeper than your knees. I would not let my DD anywhere near the water. Too dangerous. But, it was beautiful to watch the waves crashing in. There were lots of people playing in the surf, but I felt like it was very unsafe. All aboard was at 3pm so we headed back to the ship around 1:30 for a late lunch.
By the end of the week our whole party of 10 was pretty much stuffed and exhausted. We had an action packed vacation, never really stopping to relax. Everyone was pretty quiet at dinner and DD was too tired to go to the show. We did all of our tipping at dinner and thanked our servers for such a wonderful week. They really went above and beyond. We also thanked our stateroom hostess for a great week and tipped her very well. We got all packed, set our luggage out and went to bed.
All that was left was to get up and get on the airplane and go home.
Kids club-we moved DD up to the 8-10 age group because she HATED the club last year and informed me that if she had to be in the club this year she wouldn't go. She had a COMPLETELY different experience in the Oceaneers Lab and absolutely loved it. She made several friends and really enjoyed it every time she went. She actually asked to go a couple of times, which was a good sign.
Overall-We had a great trip. It was fun to hang out with family. The food was good. I wouldn't say excellent, but it was very good. A few things that stand out were the white chocolate domes that everyone raves about, the pirates of the carribean dinner menu everyone really enjoyed, french fries from pluto's dog house are FABULOUS and all of the fresh fruit. The weather could have cooperated a bit better with us, but that is the chance you take when you cruise during hurricane season.
We did not rebook while onboard, but will be anxiously awaiting the new itineraries when the new ships are released.
Sorry if he belongs to anyone here!!
